BEIJING – The Chinese embassy in Ukraine has said it will organize charter flights to evacuate Chinese nationals who wish to leave the country attacked by Russia, although Beijing says it understands Moscow’s “reasonable” security concerns.
Beijing has launched a procedure to collect information from those wishing to leave the country and said the registration window would close on Sunday.
No timetable for the start of the flights was given.
China said about 6,000 of its citizens were in Ukraine.
“Currently, the situation in Ukraine is rapidly deteriorating, and our Chinese citizens and businesses in Ukraine face a high security risk,” the embassy said in a statement.
“We have started check-in to prepare transfer arrangements with charter flights… Flight time will be confirmed and communicated in advance depending on the flight safety situation.”
Russian forces have launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, unleashing airstrikes and sending troops deep into the country, after weeks of diplomatic efforts that failed to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from launching the military operation.
On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Beijing has “always respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries” but “understands Russia’s legitimate concerns on security issues.”
